WK's Three Musketeers collection (5 Viewers)

[White Knight]

This collection is based around the excellent 3 Musketeers figures produced by King & Country, though I will add some compatible items from other sources as I can find/convert/paint them. I'm using a temporary backdrop for these pictures, from pictures I found online and printed out in A3-size, still looking into a proper solution.

It is also my intention to explore the possibility of using these figures for fun- and action packed skirmish gaming using the "...And all for one" rules you can download for free from the Eureka Miniatures site.

Here we have the titular characters (Athos, Porthos, Aramis and d'Artagnan) witnessing a duel between a fellow musketeer and one of the Cardinal's red guards, under the watchful eye of King Louis himself (using an ECW King Charles as a stand-in), Cardinal Richelieu and his right hand the Count of Rochefort. Another Red Guard stands by, nervously fidgetting with his musket as the duel does not seem to be going well. The hour is getting late and the sun is setting, throwing

On the Musketeers side, I have these so far:

These are all of the Cardinal's Red Guard figures (so far):

Since the range doesn't have too many proper musketeer figures so far, I will be appropriating several of the ECW figures to take on the role of contemporary (to the musketeers) English. So far I've managed to acquire the following characters: a set of dueling cavaliers, a pointing artillery officer with sword, a lovely sergeant-at-arms with halberd and sword and a very characterful preacher with holy book and sword behind his back, as well as the Witchfinder general.

An (already outdated by new purchases) group shot:

I will post more pictures of the individual figures from different angles in the next post, as that might be of interest.

 

[White Knight]

The Musketeers of the Guard are the King's elite bodyguard during the 17th century. Their main duty is to protect the King, and by extension the Queen. They maintain an ongoing rivalry with Cardinal Richelieu's Red Guards, often ending in tavern brawls in the evenings or (illegal) duels at the light of dawn.

The King, His Majesty Louis the XIII. He had the misfortune of being both the son of Henri IV and the father of Louis XIV. Tough break.

Athos, aka le comte de la Fère

Porthos

Aramis

Charles d'Artagnan, a young wannabe from the countryside

A nameless musketeer

 

[White Knight]

The Red Guard are to the Cardinal what the Musketeers are to the King. Despite their political allegiance, they are all soldiers of France. Their numbers count both honourable men as ruthless rogues and killers.

Le Cardinal de Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu

Le Comte de Rochefort

Red Guards

 

[White Knight]

During the chaos of wartorn Europe, the Witchfinder General was free to roam the English country side in his hunt for those who were rumoured to cavort with the devil. While not a part of Dumas' stories, it is only a small stretch to bring his emergence forward a decade or so and have him interact with the Louis XIV era France.

The Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins

The Preacher, second in command to the Witchfinder General

Captain of the Witchfinders

Sergeant-at-arms of the Witchfinders

Witchfinder thugs

 

[White Knight]

On the civilian side, I'm still waiting to get my hands on the few suitable K&C figures, but meanwhile I've been casting my eye around for other models that could be tweaked to fit in. The Lemax christmas figures have yielded some suitable subjects, if you can look past the awful paintjobs and the shoddy casting.

My favourite one is the flower seller.

"Some pretty flowers for your lady, Milord?"

"According to my book, those plants are the mark of a witch!" - "Look, I don't want any trouble..."

She started out life as a Lemax violet seller:

Another conversion from an older Lemax model is this nun figure. It's not as nice as the flowergirl, but she'll do as a bystander.

"Oh my, that looks awfully sharp, my son."

Religious folks being religious...

Original figure:

Heightened a bit before painting:

 

[White Knight]

Some stone benches for King Louis' garden. These are straight out of the box Lemax items. I intend to clean the mouldlines and repaint them eventually, but they're not bad as they are

This topiary plant is one of many that will grace the garden of King Louis (when I get around to convert more of the Lemax topiaries this is based on:

Next to one of the originals, the conversion just took some paint, some glue and some coarse flock:

Still dressing up the garden, I also have this repainted birdbath (another Lemax model). As you may notice, I also repainted the topiary plant pot again to match the stonework of the bird bath:

The orginal model looks somewhat like this (though usually not as well painted):

 

[villagehorse]

Certainly a lovely colourful range to collect WK. The conversions really improve the look of the items and add to the quality of these figures. Backdrop size has always been a problem for me as well, but if all else fails I can get a computer image printed and laminated to a larger size by a local office works business at a reasonable cost. Keep to photos and your talented work coming. Robin.

 

[White Knight]

Thanks. This backdrop works relatively well for now, though I will consider having it blown up and laminated as you say. Ideally though, I'd like to build something a bit more 3D, like a palace façade.

 

[White Knight]

The King, His Majesty Louis the XIII, known as Louis the Just, with his queen, Anne of Austria, daughter (and later sister) to the king of Spain and rumoured to have a soft spot for a certain Duke of Buckingham, another mortal enemy of France. Not an easy mariage. Both models are from King & Country and come prepainted.

The King, the son of Henri IV and Louis XIV...

The Queen. I added a small base to the queen, as K&C robed figures tend to be supplied without one, but I feel that looks a bit odd next to the other figures.

It's not easy being the Queen of France and a sister of the King of Spain

The Royal court of King Louis is of course frequented by a myriad of greater and lesser nobles, hoping to catch the King's eye and favour. This gentleman and his wife are the Duke of Vendôme, César de Bourbon, a half-brother of our beloved sovereign no less, and his wife Françoise de Lorraine. Having dabbled in intrigues and conspiracies, he will spend a larger part of his life in exile, but that's just the way of the 17th century courts.

The models are actually King & Country's (prepainted) ECW King & Queen, but after having them originally pegged to stand in for our benevolent rulers, they have been recast in new roles. I added a base to Françoise, as I felt she was missing something without it.

I have just as much royal blood as Louis, well, on our father's side anyway.

I married a King's brother, because of a treaty between Henry IV and my father, Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine

The King and Queen taking a stroll through the park, followed by their courtiers.

 

[zblang]

Looks great!

 

[White Knight]

Thanks! I got a bunch of purchases to catch up on taking pictures. More to come.

 

[White Knight]

As we all know the Duke of Buckingham likes to sneak into Paris for some quality time with a certain queen, his bodyguards have their work cut out for them to get him back home safely in time for tea and biscuits. This dapper fellow is the captain of those bodyguards, one of the finest blades of England, and plenty of charm and wit to go with it. If he'd been born in France, he'd probably have been a member of the King's musketeers.

The model is King & Country's "Laughing Cavalier" from the ECW range. He's been recast here in a role that will suit him well.

 

[villagehorse]

This is a fine piece of work that Andy has come up with and a nice addition to your collection WK. Robin.

 

[White Knight]

Thanks Robin. I'm slowly working through the backlog of figures that I need to take pictures of and edit. Here is another one:

Georges Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, was the British prime minister and a personal friend of his Sovereign. He was to British politics what cardinal Richelieu was to France's. Being responsible for waging war on France and rumored to be the recipient of the French queen's affections, he was no favorite of King Louis. His clandestine visits to France to see the queen make him a good candidate to build a separate faction around.

Pictured here with some members of his personal bodyguard, on those sneaky visits to Paris that are described in Dumas' novel.

The model is King & Country's interpretation of the character in 65mm, and a very nice one at that.

A clandestine appointment with the queen in the park. He'll only be able to steal a few minutes, but it will be worth it.

The two guards in the group shot (with spear and sword) have been shown earlier as part of the witchfinder faction, but with their colorful looks I've switched them over to the Duke of Buckingham faction, which makes a nice contrast to the more drab characters in the witchfinder group.

 

[villagehorse]

I like the idea you are personalising these figures, mine are just a blur on the castle wall and consequently lost some appeal. Perhaps I just have too many. I have no plans to increase this series, although originally I was hooked on the colour. Look forward to seeing how you develop this series. Robin.

 

[jazzeum]

Very nice collection!

 

[White Knight]

Thank you.

As I was drawn to this collection by the Three Musketeers angle, I'm trying to fit all my figures around the world of Dumas, with some liberties that seem plausible/interesting enough. As such, I try to make them named characters when possible, with some henchmen for support.

As such, I'm contemplating the idea of painting the sleeves and trousers of the models in my Witchfinder faction in darker colors, to reinforce their identity and further remove them from the ECW origins. On the other hand, they are very nice models as they are, so that holds me back a bit. Anyone care to way in with some thoughts? Yay or nay?

 

[White Knight]

And we continue
Milady de Winter is Cardinal Richelieu's confidante, spy and occasional assassin. A woman of remarkable beauty, intellect and resourcefulness, but also cold blooded and ruthless when needed. It's hard to imagine that in a former life she was the countess de la Fère, in other words, the wife of the musketeer Athos...

Pictured here in a comfortable outfit destined for travelling and clandestine operations, about to torture an apple to reveal all it's secrets.

And a close-up for no good reason:

Having a casual conversation with a young musketeer-wannabe.

"You're not dangerous, you're beautiful" - "Not the sharpest sword in the armoury, are you?"

Getting orders from the Cardinal:

"It's on my order and for the good of the State..." - "Can you write this down?"

She's not Rochefort's biggest fan though.

"Why don't we go somewhere more private?" - "Why don't we pretend that this apple is your... other sword?"

 

[ccdc11]

This is one of those those series that has always made me smile. I love the works of Dumas, and I have never seen this big of a collection of them. Nice job on all of it

 

[White Knight]

It's the Musketeer's job to keep the King out of harm's way, but it's not the King's job to make that an easy task. When war is being waged, all kings will eventually have to make a show of being a warrior in the thick of the action, albeit from a safe distance, and so we have King Louis here decked out in his finest battlefield threads.

"It is your duty to protect France. And therefore... me."

The figure is actually King & Country's retired model of the British King Charles, but as he strikes a passing resemblance to the King Louis model, he will work perfectly well in that role.

No begging from the women can sway this brave warrior from his plan to put his guards into grave danger.